The driver was traveling in the wrong direction and refused to pull over, a passenger said.

A shuttle bus driver in Long Beach, California wouldn't stop the bus, according to Lt. Robert Woods of the Long Beach Police Department.Lee Piatelli

Breaking News Emails

Get breaking news alerts and special reports. The news and stories that matter, delivered weekday mornings.

Nov. 2, 2018 / 10:07 PM GMT

By Minyvonne Burke and Stephan Kozub

What was supposed to be a short shuttle bus ride from a California aquarium to a haunted ship for a Halloween celebration turned into a nightmare when the bus driver took a detour and then refused to pull over, a passenger said.

Several passengers aboard the bus were so scared, they called 911 and climbed out the windows because they thought the driver was trying to kidnap them, passenger Lee Piatelli told NBC News.

Piatelli was on the shuttle Thursday night with his girlfriend, her cousin and the cousin's boyfriend headed to Queen Mary's Dark Harbor. He said they had been directed to park at the Aquarium of the Pacific in Long Beach and a shuttle would take them and at least 20 others to Dark Harbor.

The ride usually takes 10 minutes, but Piatelli said he quickly realized something was wrong when he looked at a map on his phone and saw the shuttle was going in the opposite direction.